ArticlePloS one2021
Availability of essential medicines in Pakistan-A comprehensive document analysis.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- From medicine price control to deregulation: assessing policy effects on insulin access in Pakistan's private pharmacies.PloS one · 2026Article
- Assessment of pricing, availability, and affordability of essential medicines in a resource-limited setting.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2026Article
- An analysis of the registration of essential medicines in Namibia: a proxy measure of the availability of essential medicines.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2026Article
- Establishing links between drug registers and essential medicines lists.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2025Article
- Article
- Pakistan's first medicine price deregulation policy: assessing its impact on prices, affordability, and availability of oral anti-diabetic medicines in private pharmacies.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- The current state of primary healthcare in Pakistan: a way forward for low-to-middle income countries.Primary health care research & development · 2024Review
- Barriers to accessing and utilising under-five primary health care services in Vhembe District.African journal of primary health care & family medicine · 2024Article
- A prospective observational study of estimating drug related problems and clinical outcomes in subtypes of stroke patients.PloS one · 2024Observational
- Registration of essential medicines in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda: a retrospective analysis.Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine · 2023Article
- Bridging the gap? Local production of medicines on the national essential medicine lists of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2023Article
- Article
- Observational
- Availability of Access, Watch, and Reserve groups of essential antibiotics: a cross-sectional survey.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionAccess to essential medicines (EMs) is a basic human right. Non-availability and shortages of EMs are reported for Pakistan but there is insufficient data to define the nature and magnitude of this problem. The current study is designed to systematically analyze the medicines included in the National Essential Medicines List (NEML) for their availability through comprehensive document analysis.
methodsAn expanded list of medicinal items was developed using the NEML of Pakistan (2018) to enlist individual medicines with their specifications. Registration status of the medicines was searched using three publicly accessible information sources; Pharmaguide 25th Edition, 2018-19, the on-line Drug Information System, and the Mobile Application Pharmapedia followed by a later 3-step validation of the data. The unregistered EMs were then further categorized into three subgroups in accordance with their possible remedial strategies.
findingsThe 19 studied categories comprised 690 EMs and it was found that 179 (26%) of these EMs don not have a registration status. However, it was also identified that the availability of 47 (26.2%) out of 179 unregistered EMs can be enssured by strengthening compounding services, and prioritizing registration of age-appropriate formulations. Availability of another 39 (21.7%) such medicines can be ensured by revising the NEML or the product registrations for the slight differences in their different specifications. The categories showing high proportion of unregistered medicines included anti-Parkinson's medicines (100%), antidotes and other substances used in poisoning (60%), diuretics (47%), anticonvulsants/antiepileptics (42%), hormones and other endocrine medicines and contraceptives (38%), medicines for mental and behavioral disorders (30%), anti-infectives (27%), medicines for pain and palliative care (26%), medicines for neonatal care (25%), medicines for diseases of joint (25%), gastrointestinal medicines (24%) and cardiovascular medicines (15%).
conclusionThe study shows the absence of registration status of a significant number of EMs in Pakistan. This could be major barrier in their access. Strategies are needed to strengthen the processes of their registration on priority basis.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.